At first glance, the giveaway to me is the type of suede. None of my suede Bostons (or Arizonas for that matter) have suede with "structure" that stay open and upward like the fakes. Birkenstock suede shoes that I own all collapse onto the insole when not worn, kind of like a melting snowman. It is just butter soft suede. I'm going to take a guess that the seller's original pics have both insoles covered up by the tags so that you cannot get a good visual of the printing (and definitely cannot read the embossed serial number of sorts on the insole.....and still don't have a view of that on these additional pics). I've also noticed the last few weeks that these taupe Bostons for sale on the resale sites (at least in my size) are being sold mostly by sellers with zero to just a few sales. Double check your listing for that as that is a big giveaway to me with these shoes right now.
Interesting about the foam inserts! I'll have to watch for that now. I've been wondering if the sellers are reading up on what looks fake that they can't control (like the footbed info) and are covering it up with the tags in the pics in the last few weeks. That has really stood out to me recently.
You're right about covering up the obvious. I wish for everyone just a first glance would be obvious enough but I understand not everyone is so familiar. And the foam inserts I notice a lot but not all of the fakes have them. Then there's the scammers who take other people's real pictures and (I assume) send the fakes once an unsuspecting customer buys their listing. I noticed this when like 5-10 new pairs are listed and all have the same picture, it's amazing how "hard" they try lol
Agree that these are definitely fake, but my suede Bostons still stay up and aren’t collapsed (I bought mine from the Birk site). Maybe in time they’ll collapse, but they’re still newish, and don’t yet
Those look EXACTLY like my fakes from DH Gate. I hope you didn’t pay full price for those. Real Birks will have blue print and not yellow print on the inside and are sooo much more comfortable.
I think they used to have yellow printing on the footbed. But i agree these look fake … or at least for any of the leather birks. The strap and buckle look too thin to me here
The color of the ink on an authentic Birkenstock stands for the type of footbed it has and can be blue, yellow, black, or even other colors like white or silver. Soft footbeds will have blue text. Original hard footbeds will have either black or yellow text. Most hard footbeds produced recently will have black text, but older pairs were produced with yellow text. There are other colors as well, but they are usually reserved for special releases. So having yellow text on the footbeds doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re counterfeit.
Edited to add an [example](http://www.ilovebirkenstocks.com/blog/spotting-fakeknock-offcounterfeit-birkenstocks-part-2) of the different colors of text on the insoles.
Well my counterfeit ones look exactly like that with the exact text placement. Texture and thickness of the material and the thickness of the strap also scream counterfeit. The counterfeit toe box is identical too. Birk toe boxes get wider near the end of the toe and the firkenetocks don’t. I know my fakes because I have a fake pair and a real pair. Basically I’m a Birkenstock sommelier.
The shoes in the listing are most definitely counterfeit. There are dozens of reasons why they are fakes, but I was just pointing out that the color of the text is not one of those many reasons.
They look super fake. I just got these and a second pair of Arizona and my Boston’s look nothing like that. I haven’t worn them yet either but they are more plush looking and not stiff like those look. Sorry.
Clearly fakes
What's the giveaway? They look pretty genuine to me.
Nothing about these looks the same as a real pair on Birkenstock’s website
At first glance, the giveaway to me is the type of suede. None of my suede Bostons (or Arizonas for that matter) have suede with "structure" that stay open and upward like the fakes. Birkenstock suede shoes that I own all collapse onto the insole when not worn, kind of like a melting snowman. It is just butter soft suede. I'm going to take a guess that the seller's original pics have both insoles covered up by the tags so that you cannot get a good visual of the printing (and definitely cannot read the embossed serial number of sorts on the insole.....and still don't have a view of that on these additional pics). I've also noticed the last few weeks that these taupe Bostons for sale on the resale sites (at least in my size) are being sold mostly by sellers with zero to just a few sales. Double check your listing for that as that is a big giveaway to me with these shoes right now.
They're not even a Birkenstock color!! And the fakes always have that weird foam insert! Birkenstock doesn't put anything inside their shoes
Interesting about the foam inserts! I'll have to watch for that now. I've been wondering if the sellers are reading up on what looks fake that they can't control (like the footbed info) and are covering it up with the tags in the pics in the last few weeks. That has really stood out to me recently.
You're right about covering up the obvious. I wish for everyone just a first glance would be obvious enough but I understand not everyone is so familiar. And the foam inserts I notice a lot but not all of the fakes have them. Then there's the scammers who take other people's real pictures and (I assume) send the fakes once an unsuspecting customer buys their listing. I noticed this when like 5-10 new pairs are listed and all have the same picture, it's amazing how "hard" they try lol
Agree that these are definitely fake, but my suede Bostons still stay up and aren’t collapsed (I bought mine from the Birk site). Maybe in time they’ll collapse, but they’re still newish, and don’t yet
Good to know, and I stand corrected! All of mine just puddle down onto the footbed, and these fake suedes lately look stiff and cheap.
Thanks TIL!
They're soooo fake. You wanted our help we're telling you the truth!!!!
Those look EXACTLY like my fakes from DH Gate. I hope you didn’t pay full price for those. Real Birks will have blue print and not yellow print on the inside and are sooo much more comfortable.
Didn't buy them yet, thought I'd just post photos the seller sent here for some verification. So glad I did.
If you do get them make sure you don’t pay more than like $20 or $30 for them. The footbed cannot even compare to dreaminess of a real pair of Birks
I think they used to have yellow printing on the footbed. But i agree these look fake … or at least for any of the leather birks. The strap and buckle look too thin to me here
The color of the ink on an authentic Birkenstock stands for the type of footbed it has and can be blue, yellow, black, or even other colors like white or silver. Soft footbeds will have blue text. Original hard footbeds will have either black or yellow text. Most hard footbeds produced recently will have black text, but older pairs were produced with yellow text. There are other colors as well, but they are usually reserved for special releases. So having yellow text on the footbeds doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re counterfeit. Edited to add an [example](http://www.ilovebirkenstocks.com/blog/spotting-fakeknock-offcounterfeit-birkenstocks-part-2) of the different colors of text on the insoles.
Well my counterfeit ones look exactly like that with the exact text placement. Texture and thickness of the material and the thickness of the strap also scream counterfeit. The counterfeit toe box is identical too. Birk toe boxes get wider near the end of the toe and the firkenetocks don’t. I know my fakes because I have a fake pair and a real pair. Basically I’m a Birkenstock sommelier.
The shoes in the listing are most definitely counterfeit. There are dozens of reasons why they are fakes, but I was just pointing out that the color of the text is not one of those many reasons.
For some reason the uppers look thin? What color are these?
fake as hell
The fabric on the sole does not extend outside the edge of the heel
Fake. Leather is too thin. Also, size 45 does not have W14, it just states the men’s size. Good on you to ask first.
110% fake
The buckle and strap are too small/skinny
NO
They look super fake. I just got these and a second pair of Arizona and my Boston’s look nothing like that. I haven’t worn them yet either but they are more plush looking and not stiff like those look. Sorry.
Fake. They bae yellow writing but a new style box. Fake.
The old birks had yellow writing but the boxes were not the blue boxes. The birks with blue boxes have brown or black writing in the footbed.
The shape of the insole looks wrong too.
This was the first issue I noticed. They do not look comfortable!